by Bob Dattolo
Grunting didn’t make my throat feel better, but it made me feel better. “Oh, goody, I get to be a weird supernatural on top of everything else. That’s lovely.”
Ms. Darvel patted my shoulder. “You okay to stand?”
“I think so?” Standing was easier than I expected. The aches and pains were fading quicker than I would have anticipated, leaving me feeling slightly more energetic than I had been. The room around me was destroyed. I have no idea how it happened, but whatever I did tore everything to pieces, then tore at the pieces. I stared around once more. “Oh…do I have to take the other tests again?”
Mr. Mitchum smiled, “Nope! I managed to pull them away in time.”
Good. Very good. I don’t relish the idea of taking them again.
Chapter 8
Ms. Darvel walked me out of the building as the headmaster coordinated someone to clean up the room. Mr. Mitchum disappeared to grade the tests. She walked with me in silence, which I appreciated right up until I spoke. “Why am I different?”
She patted my shoulder. “Everyone’s different, even when they’re the same. The only thing really different about you is that you’re just a different that we’ve never seen before. That means less than you think it will in the long run.”
“But…” I groaned, “I don’t even know what to ask. My life is beyond out of control. It’s even worse that my life hasn’t ever even been what I thought it was. I have to question everything that my parents taught me because they lied about so much.”
She stopped and pulled me to a stop facing her. “I know you have to feel that your life is out of control. To an extent, it is. Yet you’re in the process of gaining control right now. This is the brief moment in time where you’re in the air after a jump. You just need to land and stick it, and I think you’ll be able to do that easier than you think. Things are scary right now. I get it. You’re something that you never knew you were and your parents aren’t what you thought they were. That has to be horrifying. Yet you have the chance right now to become something truly amazing. You have untapped potential like no one I’ve ever encountered. You should have heard the conversation when I went back to the nurse’s office. You’ve been here less than a day and I swear some of the teachers here would like to do a thesis paper on you for their degrees. You know you shouldn’t be awake, right? Or out of the bed you were in? Corey’s still not quite back to normal.”
I nodded. “I had a feeling based on what they said when I left. Those strap things had spells on them, right?”
She snorted. “They did. Strong enough to stop a rhino. I’m not even joking. They’re used in zoos across the country every day. They were spelled for strength and for keeping you unconscious. On top of that, the bed also had a spell on it. They checked, and literally no one has ever woken up with bands like that on them. Certainly never broken out like it was a minor annoyance at best.” She nudged my shoulder and we started walking again. “And the room up there? I can’t even tell you how much it took for us to keep everything contained to the room. If we weren’t there, Mitchum would have gone down hard. I don’t know how far the destruction would have gone, but it wouldn’t have stopped. At a minimum, we would have lost the outside wall in addition to the inner walls. Possibly the ceiling, too.”
“That should be impossible!”
“Welcome to the world of magic. You have a lot to learn, but you have time to do it now.”
“I don’t know if I want to learn it, though…”
She sighed. “Ceri, you have to. I’m not just saying that, either. You have to. What I saw in there? If you don’t learn how to control your powers, you’ll be a danger to others. You’ll be one bad mood away from destroying a car. A house. A business. It’s the curse of a mage. Magic will leak out of you, whether you like it or not. You’re not even 17, right?”
“No. I turn 17 in a month.”
She shook her head. “I remember turning 17. Granted, it was a few hundred years ago, but I still remember it. I was so excited to receive the rest of my powers. I’d spent every day of my life that I could remember trying to learn about my power. To master it. I wanted a solid foundation for when the rest came in. I was even a pretty strong kid and was able to do some cool things. Then I turned 17 and was hit with just an avalanche of power. More than I anticipated. It strained the skills I learned and there were more than a few fires and destroyed things when I couldn’t control myself. Honestly, if you reach 17 without at least some training…I fear for people. I really do.”
Yeah, another fun thing to learn about myself. I either learn magic or possibly kill people at random? Nice. I get to be a freak of a supernatural and go to hell and I get to be like my parents.
She touched my shoulder again at the dorm building. “I know this is a lot, but trust me, you will feel better the more you learn about yourself. It’s a lot to take in right now, but you’ll get used to it sooner than you think.” She squeezed once, then walked away, leaving me to my thoughts.
My dorm was just as I left it, which I wasn’t really sure would be the case. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that Corey’s friends broke in and destroyed my stuff. Maybe I do need to learn some magic soon so that I can protect my things. I’ve never had stuff like this before, so it might be worthwhile.
I set about putting my clothes away, actually filling more than one drawer for the first time in my life. That’s both a testament to how few clothes I owned at home and how many the FBI let me pick up. Not that I bought more than they recommended.
I folded the empty duffel and put it into one of the roller bags, then put that bag into another before putting them in the closet. Taking a seat at the desk, I plugged in my laptop, but didn’t turn it on.
“So this is school?” Obviously, no one answered me. I would have been really disturbed if someone did. I was tempted to talk to the FBI and see if someone would call me, but I’d rather not know than know for sure that they’re listening to everything I say. It’s bad enough I have to stop myself from making a flogger and beating myself raw for everything that’s happened, so knowing that they’re there watching and listening would push me over the edge. I so don’t want to hurt myself, but it would be a touch of normalcy that would be centering.
I rocked back and forth in my little chair and questioned my decisions in life. Not in crazy detail, just enough to get lost in. Like why did I try to use the spigot? Why did I listen? Why did I run? Should I have talked to them? Maybe I misunderstood? Why didn’t I take one of my brothers or sisters? So many why’s and no answers. None. I don’t even really know why I accepted coming to this school, except it was the best of the two options I was presented with. As much as I’d love to call Rasphael Mom, I don’t want her hunted down for it. It’s bad enough I may kill people by accident, I don’t want to willingly pursue something that would end that way.
That thought made me smile.
I don’t want to willingly pursue it, but I’d so do it. Like I told Ms. Darvel, I wasn’t bluffing with my threat. I know it had to sound that way, but I wasn’t. I meant every word. I’ve never been the kind of person to think or talk like that, but I would actively hunt down every single one of the people I mentioned and kill them.
The dichotomy of my thinking is enough to make me pause, but not enough for me to change my mind about that. I can’t even guess how or why I’m okay thinking that, but I am.
My reverie was broken by jingling of the door handle and the arrival of Steph.
She smiled at me as soon as she saw me. “Hey. How was your test?”
I shrugged. “I think I did pretty good on the English, math, social studies, and science sections, but I’m pretty sure I failed magical species and defense.”
“What about magic?”
I snorted. “Oh, you know, I broke the test somehow.”
She sat on her bed and squinted at me. “What?”
“Just what I said. The room is destroyed. Everything is demolished. It took Mr. Mitchum, t
he headmaster, and Ms. Darvel to control everything. They still don’t know what happened, but I apparently broke the test somehow when I tore my way out of it.”
She whistled. “Daaaamn, you broke out of the test? That’s supposed to be impossible. How did you do it?”
“No idea. I didn’t even know it was the test.”
“That’s fucked up.”
Another shocker of a curse, but I didn’t react to it.
“What now?”
“No idea. I unpacked, but that’s as far as I got.” I glanced at the clock. “Are classes over?”
“Yeah. We’re done until tomorrow.”
“What does everyone do outside of classes?”
She smiled. “Depends on the person? Some shifters go for a run in the woods. Mages tend to practice their magic. We have a lounge area on this floor as well as a main one where everyone gets together. That one’s a little iffy depending on what you’re willing to put up with.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if Corey’s there, he’ll end up wanting to fuck someone. Granted, it’s the same for most of the others, so it’s a great place to go if you want to get laid. Or study together. It just depends on the time of day.”
“Great. Another place to avoid.”
“There’s always our lounge. It’s not as big and doesn’t have a pool table, but we have great WIFI, plenty of space, and two TVs.”
“What else do people do?”
She kicked her shoes off and pulled her legs onto her bed. “Homework is big, although we didn’t have any today. We do a lot of papers or research things for some of the classes. Others require a lot of practice, like defense. That one’s tougher since we’re trying to defend ourselves cross-species.”
“What do you mean?”
She pointed between us. “Like us? You have to learn how to react if you get attacked by someone like me and I have to learn how to react if I get attacked by someone like you.”
“Yeah, right. You’re huge. You’d destroy me.”
“Maybe? If it were purely physical. But Armand would wreck me if he came in prepared. He has spells that can kill pretty easily.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “Okay, I guess I can see that. What about shifter to shifter, then?”
“It all depends on the type. Tom is a strong alpha and very powerful. I’m pretty sure I’m physically stronger than he is, but I’m not interested in fighting for it. He’s faster than I am, but I’m harder to hurt. Then Sarah with her tiger. When she’s shifted, she’s actually bigger than Tom, but he’s more powerful. I’m taller than either of them, but she’s longer. That’s where the class comes in, because it teaches you some ways for dealing with each type. Like wolves tend to bite more, while cats bite and claw.”
“What do bears do?”
“Bite, claw, and crush. We use our bulk more than the other do.”
“So much to learn.”
“True enough.”
We fell into a friendly silence for a few minutes.
“Do you mind if I get comfortable?”
I shrugged. “It’s your room too? Do whatever you’d normally do?”
Her shirt was off before she slid from her bed, soon followed by her shorts. Then everything else.
My heart hammered in my chest and I spun away from her, not sure what I should be doing.
“Hey, you okay?” She touched my arm, but I spun further away from her.
“I…you’re naked!”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Why are you naked? I can’t see you naked!” I had to clench my hands to stop from hurting myself to make up for seeing her.
“I don’t get it? Why can’t you see me naked?”
I almost spun towards her. “Because you’re naked! That’s a sin! I don’t want to go to hell!”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes!”
She groaned. “Leticia? Sarah? Can you come over?”
“Why did you call them? They can’t see you this way!”
She stepped away from the door and I turned away from her until I was looking straight at the door and she was behind me. Unexpectedly, the door opened, and the two girls walked in.
They were both totally naked.
“Oh my!” I hid my face, not sure where to look.
Leticia’s a pretty Hawaiian looking girl with deep tan looking skin, so I knew it was her that moved directly in front of me. “Ceri?”
“You heard her. She thinks being naked is a sin.”
“It is! Why are you all naked?!”
“We’re shifters.” Leticia’s response was pretty straight-forward, as if that would answer things.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Sarah moved in front of me and crouched down. Her black skin stood out, but I tried to avoid her…parts. “Look at me, Ceri.”
“I can’t!”
“Look at me, Ceri.”
“I can’t look at you!”
She sighed. “Ceri, we’re shifters. We’re naked almost all the time. We can’t wear clothes when we shift, so it’s the natural state for us. You’re going to see us naked at least once a day I’d think.”
“I can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to go to hell!”
She sighed again. “You won’t go to hell for seeing us naked. Or for being naked. It doesn’t work like that.” She paused. “Tell me, since this is a religious thing, do you believe in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve?”
“Yes? I…we’re not really Christians, but that’s part of what I was taught.”
She nodded. “Okay. Remember back to the garden. Adam and Eve lived together, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay. And they were naked, right?”
“Right?”
“Then they ate the apple and they realized they were naked and felt shame, right?”
“Right? Where are you going with this?”
She patted my hand. “Ceri, what was the sin that took place in that story?”
“They ate the apple and realized they were naked!”
She smiled. “Right. They ate the apple and became ashamed. Up until then they were still just as naked, but they didn’t feel shame about it. So, tell me, how did the sin become being naked, when God created them that way and had them living that way and it was only eating the apple that made them realize they wanted to be covered?”
My little mind exploded at that. “But…they…I…”
“Every animal in existence is naked. Babies are naked. We’re not born with clothes. Clothing and what is considered suitable covering varies by nationality. In some countries it’s still normal for kids to run around naked until they hit puberty. In others women don’t wear tops. In yet others you can barely see the woman’s eyes through the cloth covering their faces. Humans put the rules in place for various reasons. Shifters abide by those rules, but when we’re home? We abide by our own, and skin isn’t an issue. We all have skin. Everyone in this room has boobs. The only difference is the size. Out of everyone on this floor, the only difference you’ll find is if they have a penis or a vagina. Even with that, those are the only two options. The details of each differ, but that’s it.” She paused again. “Have you ever cared for a baby? Changed a diaper?”
“Yes? I have…had six younger brothers and sisters.”
“Okay. Then you’ve seen penises before. Granted, smaller due to age, but they’re still penises. Why is that any different from seeing us? You see yourself in the mirror, it’s just like that.”
She gently took my hand and pulled it away from my face. “I get that you had a strange upbringing, but you need to get over this. It’s part of our world. A big part of it. As a mage, you especially need to get over it, since at least some of your spells have to be done skyclad, from what I understand.”
“Uhh, skyclad?”
“Naked.” Steph answered. “A lot of mages work naked. Something about how the mag
ic works, I guess.”
I had to fight to keep my eyes on Sarah’s face. “I’m not sure I can do this.”
She smiled up at me. “You can. How about this? Strip down with us and we’ll hang out here until dinner.”
“What? I can’t do that!”
“You can. C’mon, it’ll be fun. I bet you won’t care as much when we’re done.” She stood up and pulled me to my feet.
There’s literally no part of me that wants to do this, but I can feel how honest she is. There’s a level of caring there that I wouldn’t have anticipated.
“You can do it. Look at us,” she spread her arms wide, “does it look like we care? Humans are just animals with more powerful brains. Clothing is a tool, nothing more. A place to keep money or keys. A way to stay warm. It’s an artifice that norms have twisted into something it doesn’t need to be.”
She tugged the hem of my t-shirt. “Come on. I promise you’ll feel better.”
Blood rushed to my head as I turned away from her and held the bottom of my shirt. Can I really do this? Her arguments are pretty solid. I have to admit that at a minimum. I took a few deep breaths and removed my shirt quickly, dropping it on my bed. Without pause, I removed my shorts as well. More deep breathing done, I removed my bra, feeling like I was going to pass out. I don’t know how they can do this. This is…this is horrific.
Steph touched my bare shoulders. “You can do it, Ceri. You can do it.”
Her touch was comforting, although it shouldn’t have been. Everything I’ve ever been taught told me not to do this. That this is wrong.
Yet it seems that my parents were lying murderers. Plus, Rasphael and the others seemed to support this. Maybe I can do this? I didn’t combust into flames when my panties joined my clothes on my bed, but I wanted to. The feeling got worse when three sets of arms pulled me into a hug and I felt more than a few boobs.
I didn’t realize I was crying for nearly five minutes.